Arvid Soderblom cleared waivers on Monday and was sent back to Rockford, while the Blackhawks called up Drew Commesso to take his place on the NHL roster. It was a goalie move, not a broader reset, even as the team returned to practice carrying a 1-8-1 stretch.
The timing matters because the switch came with the Blackhawks still searching for answers, and it immediately altered their crease depth without triggering a coaching shake-up. The club said there would be no coaching or staff changes at this time, and Jeff Blashill said he would rather make tweaks than full-scale changes right now.
The waiver process gave the Blackhawks a narrow path to make the move. Soderblom was placed on waivers, and once he cleared, the team could assign him to Rockford and open the door for Commesso to join the NHL club. That kind of move lets a team shift one player down and another up without waiting for a trade or a larger roster overhaul.
Commesso’s numbers in Rockford help explain why he was the one brought up. He had a 2-4-1-1 record with a.890 save percentage and a 2.74 goals-against average, while Rockford sat at 5-7-0-1. Those are not loud numbers, but they were enough to make him the next man in line when the Blackhawks needed a change in net.
There was also a broader roster wrinkle behind the switch. Patrick Kane and Bowen Byram were on the ice before practice in non-contact jerseys, and both were dealing with upper-body injuries. Kane joining Byram on injured reserve on Monday created the roster room for Commesso before Soderblom’s waiver situation was resolved, which kept the move contained to personnel rather than forcing the club into a deeper overhaul.
That is the part worth watching now. The Blackhawks chose a limited answer to a larger problem: one goalie out, one goalie up, and no staff changes despite the skid. For Soderblom, the immediate next step is Rockford; for the Blackhawks, the unanswered question is whether this was a short-term shuffle or the first sign that their goaltending plan is changing again.
